It's hard to imagine what it would be like to live without fire. Think about it.
Yet fire can be one of our deadliest enemies. It can mutilate us, kill us, and destroy in a few minutes what took a lifetime to build. Fire can take away our work places and our jobs. How can fires be stopped? The answer is control. But to control fires we must understand them and know how to deal with them.
Fire needs three elements to exist--fuel, oxygen and heat. To understand the relationships, think of each as separate sides of a triangle. Fire need all three elements in the proper proportions to exist. If one side of the triangle is removed, the fire will go out. For fuel to ignite, oxygen must be present; then heat must be applied until the combustion point is reached. When this point is reached, the fuel will ignite with the oxygen, consuming both fuel and oxygen and giving off heat. If the oxygen is removed, the fire is smothered. If the fuel is removed, there's nothing left to burn. Oxygen? by itself, will not burn. If the heat is lowered below the combustion point, the fuel and oxygen will not unite and the fire will go out.
For your safety and the safety of your co-workers you should know where fire extinguisher are located and how to use them properly.
Note to Discussion Leader:
Bring fire extinguisher to the meeting and demonstrate how to use it. Review your company's fire record and discus it with employee. Describe the fire protection available at your company, where fire extinguishers are located and evacuation procedures.
The most important thing to remember about fire extinguishers is that you must use the correct type for each kind of fire.
Class A fire--combustible? such as wood, paper and cloth
Class B fires--flammable liquids
Class C fires--electrical
There are several types of fire extinguisher: foam, carbon dioxide,soda acid, pump tank, gas cartridge, multipurpose dry chemical and ordinary dry chemical. Most extinguishers have label that list the type of fires that they can be used for.
The most common extinguisher is the multipurpose dry chemical type. It can be used for any class of fire. However, if the tag on the extinguisher is not labeled ABC, you must know the type of fire the extinguisher can be used on.
Class A fires:
Class B fires:
Class C fires:
Fire is an essential part of our live. We cannot do without it, but we must stop unwanted fires that can destroy our buildings, lives and job. Never take the attitude that any building is f;reproof or that fires won't happen. Do what you can to prevent fires, but always be prepared by knowing what actions to take if one occurs. Good teamwork is a must. To prevent fires we must all work together.